Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #7 in DVD
- Released on: 2006-09-05
- Rating: Unrated
- Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
- Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
- Original language: English
- Number of discs: 18
- Running time: 3458 minutes
Editorial Reviews
Studio description
DVD Features:
Audio commentaries
Biographies
Deleted scenes
Episodic previews
Episodic recaps
Featurettes
Music video
Original cast audition tapes
Exclusive extended cut of the series finale and more
Amazon.com
Oz, HBO's violent men-behind-bars drama, is an addictive, testosterone-driven soap opera for guys. The first season set the style for the show: a massive cast of vivid characters on both sides of the bars, four or five stories unleashed at a breakneck pace and framed by angry, oddball introductions, and a soaring casualty rate. Created by Homicide producer Tom Fontana, this drama quickly earned a rightful reputation as the most brutal show on TV. It's simple chemistry: combine volatile ingredients in a confined space, shut tight, and shake.
The yellow brick road of the Oswald Correctional Facility (affectionately known as "Oz" among the inmates) leads to "Emerald City," an antiseptic cellblock of cement and glass overseen by prison-reform advocate Tim McManus (Terry Kinney). The first episode introduces its two most compelling inmates: meek lawyer Beecher (Lee Tergeson), who transforms from a vulnerable lamb to a fearless, drug-addicted wildcat, and Muslim activist Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), a fiercely non-violent leader whose campaign for reform explodes in a season-climaxing riot. The stunning first-season cast also features Ernie Hudson (the warden), Rita Moreno (a worldly drug-counseling nun), and Edie Falco (who jumped from her role as a single-mother prison guard to mob wife in The Sopranos). It carries no rating, but the drug use, nudity, and brutal violence make this highly inappropriate for young viewers and unsuited to the squeamish. Oz pulls no punches in its portrayal of prison violence and! predatory abuse. Over the show's six seasons, other cast members included Luiz Guzmán, J.K. Simmons, Christopher Meloni, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Harold Perrineau, and Patti LuPone --Sean Axmaker
DVD Features:
Audio commentaries
Biographies
Deleted scenes
Episodic previews
Episodic recaps
Featurettes
Music video
Original cast audition tapes
Exclusive extended cut of the series finale and more
Amazon.com
Oz, HBO's violent men-behind-bars drama, is an addictive, testosterone-driven soap opera for guys. The first season set the style for the show: a massive cast of vivid characters on both sides of the bars, four or five stories unleashed at a breakneck pace and framed by angry, oddball introductions, and a soaring casualty rate. Created by Homicide producer Tom Fontana, this drama quickly earned a rightful reputation as the most brutal show on TV. It's simple chemistry: combine volatile ingredients in a confined space, shut tight, and shake.
The yellow brick road of the Oswald Correctional Facility (affectionately known as "Oz" among the inmates) leads to "Emerald City," an antiseptic cellblock of cement and glass overseen by prison-reform advocate Tim McManus (Terry Kinney). The first episode introduces its two most compelling inmates: meek lawyer Beecher (Lee Tergeson), who transforms from a vulnerable lamb to a fearless, drug-addicted wildcat, and Muslim activist Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), a fiercely non-violent leader whose campaign for reform explodes in a season-climaxing riot. The stunning first-season cast also features Ernie Hudson (the warden), Rita Moreno (a worldly drug-counseling nun), and Edie Falco (who jumped from her role as a single-mother prison guard to mob wife in The Sopranos). It carries no rating, but the drug use, nudity, and brutal violence make this highly inappropriate for young viewers and unsuited to the squeamish. Oz pulls no punches in its portrayal of prison violence and! predatory abuse. Over the show's six seasons, other cast members included Luiz Guzmán, J.K. Simmons, Christopher Meloni, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Harold Perrineau, and Patti LuPone --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
putting prison break to shame nearly a decade earlier, this show rocks!
About the show:
Wow. From the first episode you feel as if you are hooked in, although I dont want to dive too much into the show itself (just skim it) you find that this show, apart from its hard hitting grit and honesty (maybe it is? I dont know, ive never been to prison) dealing with drugs, ethnic grouping, racist attacks, homosexuality, violence and spiritual guidance, this show has something for everyone to walk away with and contemplate as it does dictate a lot of what our soceity is like, even if we have to look at a test subject that is criminal and locked up.
Few warnings though:
Not for the faint hearted: If you are conservative in nature, I would not suggest watching this show, as some of what happens is REALLY harsh (especially as seasons go on)
Not for children: I personally dont believe that people who are under the age of 17 should be watching this show, as it contains graphic sexual scenes and nudity.
Dont watch this if you are a devote prison break fan: This show just makes it look like a joke! Although only the first season of the show was in prison, the realism (if they even tried for that) just doesnt compare to how hard up prisoners really have it, which i feel OZ may convey much better. Tea bag? More like hand bag! Compared to characters like Shillinger and Ada Beisi he is TAME.
On the continual arguments with pricing and dvd quality:
Despite claims in these previous reviews, I have yet to find a problem with this six season set.
Although, I have to admit, the menu's are seemingly primative and quite long in loading up (panning through computer graphics etc which gets annoying) but the quality is still great.
I also dont see how this boxset is seen as expensive. At the time fo this review (28/7/07) the entire show in this offer costs $208, If you look to buy all seasons seperatly, it will cost you an extra $8 dollars, which you could just spend on getting a better delivery service.
When I bought this show (about 4 months ago) I payed about $170. So at this point in time I do find it a bit pricey and would suggest watching it since prices go up and down. I personally feel though even at 208 USD, its still worth it.
Like No Other
Not always easy to watch, but always worth it. I agree with a reviewer above, this show is addictive! The story isn't as great as Six Feet Under. There are no Tony Sopranos or Paulie Walnuts to keep you entertained, but Oz is great in it's own way. Every character has flaws, but they also all have some quality that you can sympathize with. It makes it really hard to choose who to root for.
The plot line is always evolving and the violence gets even more raw as you move through the series. I do feel like there are some plot holes in this show and some of the things that happen don't seem like they really could happen in real life, but hey... it's fiction. There is a lot of great acting in this show and it keeps you on your seat waiting to see what is going to happen next. The show can drag a little bit when the prisoners are in counseling and the scenes with the prison staff don't captivate me as much as the stories about the prisoners, but everything is related in the story and it becomes difficult to separate the prison staff from the prisoners themselves.
This show is excellent and complex. It is worth watching again so you can catch some of the things you may have missied the first time around. Therefore, I think this is a series that is worth owning. I give it 4 out of 5 stars only because there are some things that happen that don't seem very realistic.
The entire series for less than 250?!?!
What more could you ask for? Considering it's not a secret that HBO charges an arm and a leg for their season DVDs, this set is truly worth the money. Thanks to netflix I rented season 1 of this and just kept going episode after episode. Never have I been so into a television show like I was with this. The writing is incredible to say the least, back stories are explained with extreme detail, continuation is nothing less than amazing, casting is great(especially the special guest stars i.e. Jon Seda, LL Cool J, Luke Perry, etc...) This show brought out the best in a lot of actors you had no idea were capable of such drama. Everything about this show is entertaining, hard hitting, emotional, shocking, and just fun. I've said this 100 times and I'll say it again, OZ is truly the best show that television had. It's a shame it had to end but these DVDs will prove how important and incredible this show was and it's potential. Only season that is somewhat sub par is 3.Couldve finished better. Where as the season finale had a lot of unexplained questions as well, the special features includes the finale uncut with an extra 45 minutes! Basically a movie.
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